Unite House 128 Theobald’s Road London WC1X 8TN Tel: 020 7611 2500 Fax: 020 7611 2555 CENTRAL OFFICE For the attention of: Federico Trillo-Figueroa Martínez-Conde Embassy of Spain in the United Kingdom 39 Chesham Place London SW1X8SB Fax: 020 7259 53 92 E -mail : emb.londres@maec.es 17th February 2015 Dear Ambassador Federico Trillo-Figueroa Martínez-Conde, Unite the Union Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union with over 1.4 million members working across all sectors of the economy, calls upon you to relay to your government in Madrid our most urgent appeal that all charges levelled by the Spanish authorities against eight Airbus trade unionists (seven members of CCOO and one UGT member) be dropped immediately. The Airbus eight are awaiting trial for events that took place in front of the gate of the Getafe factory during the 2010 general strike against the reform of the employment laws – events resulting from the brutal police assault on the striking workers. The public prosecutor’s office is asking for a prison sentence of eight years and three months for each of the eight trade unionists, a total of 66 years. During the first preliminary hearing the accused Airbus eight turned down the public prosecutor’s offer to reduce the penalty from eight years and three months to two years, since this would have involved agreeing that they had committed the crimes with which they were charged, and of which they are completely innocent. As a result, the charges stand as they were. Already prison sentences have been handed down in trials in Pontevedra, Grenada and Asturias, the latter involving five UGT members at Arcelor’s Gijón plant who have been jailed, two of them for five years and three of them for three and a half years. On February 18th 2015, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) will be organising an International Day of Action in defence of the right to strike and UNITE will stand with the embattled Spanish trade unionists and in support of their right to strike. Len McCluskey General Secretary www.unitetheunion.org The right to strike is an indispensable component of the right to collective bargaining, a cornerstone of trade union and democratic rights. As supporters of trade union and democratic rights, we are outraged by the violations of basic labour rights taking place under Article 315.3 of the Penal Code. We call upon the government of Mariano Rajoy to drop all the charges against the trade unionists, to repeal Article 315.3 of the Penal Code, and to respect the right to strike and all the Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO ) that it has ratified. We would greatly appreciate your acknowledging receipt of this most urgent appeal. Yours Sincerely, Len McCluskey UNITE General Secretary